Hi all,
Paul was filled with and moved by the Holy Spirit when he commanded a temporary blindness to come upon Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13: 9-11. In Acts 20: 8-10 raised Eutychus from the dead after he had fallen out of a 3rd floor window. He spoke of other signs, wonders, and ‘mighty deeds’ of his ministry in II Corinthians 12:12.
Yet in other situations no supernatural healing or miracle happened: He told Timothy to drink wine with his water for his stomach ailments in I Timothy 5:23. He also left Trophimus sick at Miletus in II Timothy 4:20, and in Philippians 2: 25-27 he tells how Epaphroditis had been sick close to death, but recovered.
Miraculous healings seemed inconsistent in their day as well as ours.
The name of Jesus
The name of Jesus is a common name to this day in its various forms around the world. In Spanish it is Jes’us (hay-sus), in Arabic it is Isa, in Hebrew Joshua, and the Greek from which the English ‘Jesus’ is derived, is Iseous. And many Christians address Him as Yeshua or one of its forms.
But it is just a name. Even in Jesus’ time they had to add an identifier: “Jesus of Nazareth”, as opposed to Jesus of Cana or Jesus of Nain. And in John 1:45 they needed to clarify it further: “Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph.”
What is unique about our Lord Jesus is that the Father has endorsed His name, making it the highest and most honored name in the universe, in which one day “…every knee will bow and ever tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:11
The Father’s endorsement means His Spirit is forever part of that Name. Thus the Word (Jesus) and the Spirit are in agreement – and to ‘work’ or function, must be so. To try to move in the spirit realm without the Name opens oneself to error, and to try to use the name without the Spirit being part of it means failure.
The condition is the Father wills and moves by His Spirit when the name is used for His purposes, but if that use is not with the Father’s will and purpose, His Spirit will not go with the use of the name.
The name is not a cure-all
So today we have people who use the name of Jesus as a curse word – but the Holy Spirit is not involved with that.
In Acts 19: 13-18 some used the name of Jesus to try to cast out demons, but the Holy Spirit wasn’t in them so the demons didn’t have to obey, and they were beaten by the man in whom the demon raged.
We also have Christians who don’t have the slightest clue about that above, so they think they can command this or that in the name, without being taught one must know where the Father is going by His Spirit, for it is only the Word and Spirit in agreement that produces miracle power in the earth. There is a remnant of the old Word of Faith still around that thinks we just have to speak the name and command and it will happen, having never been taught the Spirit and Word are one. Faith is never independent of the Father’s will.
You can command in the name of Jesus for a Ferrari to come to you, but unless the Father has included His Spirit to the use of the Name, nothing will happen. The name of Jesus must be accompanied by the Holy Spirit, for it is the Holy Spirit who actually does the healing or miracle.
In Matthew 12: 24-33 Jesus was accused of using the power of Satan to cast out demons. Even they recognized Jesus was using some kind of power ‘outside himself’ to cast out demons. They said demonic power, but Jesus offered an alternative for them to consider:
“But, if I cast out demons by the Holy Spirit, then it means the kingdom of God has come to you.”
We must also remember that in John 5: 19 and 30 Jesus said He only did and said what He first saw and heard from the Father. Again, Jesus followed the Holy Spirit in all He did – the Word and Spirit are in agreement, are one.
Revelation required
In Matthew 16: 16-17 when Peter proclaimed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, Jesus said the Father had shown it to him, and continued by saying he was just Peter (Cephas, a small stone), but upon this rock (Greek; Petra, mountain), He would build His church.
The mountain (rock) Jesus spoke of is the revelation from the Father that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. The flow of revelation being from the Father through His Spirit, to Jesus (Christ in us) to mankind. The whole kingdom of God is based on revelation from the Father by His Spirit that Jesus is Lord, and it all flows from there.
That is why when you have ‘believed’ for something after you have first received a peace or some revelation to go in that direction, it works out. But when you just do it on your own thinking that is the way to go, it falls apart or is difficult. One is decision making based on revelation received, and the other is just thinking the name of Jesus is independent from the Father’s will and flow of the Spirit – which is wrong.
I’ve spent the 2 previous messages talking about hindrances to healing, but by far the biggest reason people don’t see more miracles in their lives is because of what I’m discussing here: The lack of revelation.
Let’s say someone gets a bad medical report, and immediately they ask for prayer. What I’ve seen is that when people get alone with the Father first, find their peace, find His will for them, the direction to go with it – that is when they see great grace and often either faster healing or dramatic healing. When no revelation comes, we proceed with what we know to do in the natural, trusting He is guiding and supporting us with His grace.
The whole kingdom functions by revelation. First invest the time in worship, prayer, putting yourself in a position to receive from the Father how He wants you to respond to the situation – and then use the name of Jesus for that purpose. That’s how the kingdom works.
Lingering, tarry, wait on the Lord
In about a month we are having our conference in Broken Arrow (suburb of Tulsa) and during that time every single person will have hands laid on them if they want. They will sit in a chair and several will gather around, and then we will all linger, tarry before the Lord as we do so, to see what He would say to them. What are we doing? Are we offering our own words of encouragement? No. We wait in the presence of the Father, His Spirit among us and in us, to receive revelation that flows forth in the form of prophecy, words of knowledge and wisdom, mini-visions for them, and healing.
That’s normal house church – when someone needs prayer we gather, wait to hear what the Father wants, THEN speak the name of Jesus. I learned this back in about 1974 as a teenager attending ‘prayer meetings’ in the charismatic renewal – and that’s what made it so alive, so dynamic, so miracle producing – we knew how to gather and then wait and see what the Father wanted to do, what direction He wanted to flow.
It is the Holy Spirit who actually does the work. I use the example of a father telling his son to wash the car. The father wills the car to be washed. The son does the work of spraying the car with water, but it is the water that actually does the cleaning. That is how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit work – it is the Spirit that gives life (John 6:63), it is the Spirit who actually displaces demons (Mt 12:28), it is the Spirit that recreated your spirit (John 3:3-5). It is not the name of Jesus alone, but the name of Jesus following the Spirit as the Father directs – the same pattern seen in John 5:19 – we do what we see the Father do. Father-Spirit-Son (body of Christ).
We are in Christ, so it is like that son being directed by the dad on where to aim the water – what part of the car needs the water. We linger before a person so we can hear from our ‘dad’ where He wants to direct the ‘water’ to cleanse a person, or heal them, or flow over them.
There is so much more that could be shared, but changing your lifestyle to be sure upon receiving news of any kind, to just keep quite instead of spouting your opinion or what you think you need to do – just remain quiet and get with the Father to see what direction He wants to go – revelation is the rock, and it all flows from there, including using the name of Jesus whether for prayer, or against demons, or for healing. Revelation comes first.
Plenty to consider – new subject next week. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
